By Ben Musanje
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Dr Diana Atwine, has raised alarm over the use of Panadol tablets to cook beans and meat in parts of Kira Municipality, Wakiso District, warning residents that the practice could pose serious health risks.
Dr Atwine made the revelation on Saturday while participating in the National Cleaning Day activities in Kyaliwajjala, Kira Municipality, where she moved through the community to assess sanitation and encourage residents to take part in monthly cleaning exercises.
Speaking to Journalists after the reach out, Dr Atwine noted that she encountered women preparing food for restaurants who told her that they add Panadol tablets to beans and meat to make the food cook faster.
“I have also been informed while I was talking to some community there, I discovered that people put Panadol in the food to make it cook quickly. That is very dangerous,” Dr Atwine said.
She cautioned that the effects of exposing Panadol to high cooking temperatures and consuming it through food are not well established, particularly where the quantity used is unknown.
Dr Atwine further noted that paracetamol, the active ingredient in Panadol, can cause serious liver damage when taken in excessive doses.
“We know that Panadol as a drug in itself, when you take it and you take high dose, it can affect your liver. It is a hepatotoxic drug,” she said.
She warned that repeatedly consuming food prepared with the tablets could expose people to unknown amounts of the medicine.
“Now imagine if you are taking beans every day and you are taking that, we do not know even what kind of dose they put in there,” she said.
The discovery came as Dr Atwine inspected sanitation conditions in congested residential and commercial areas of Kyaliwajjala. During the exercise, she also found significant amounts of plastic waste and other rubbish being burned in the community.
At one point, a heap of garbage, including polythene bags commonly known as buveera, was being burned, sending smoke into the surrounding area as women prepared food for their restaurants.
Dr Atwine stopped to speak to the women and warned them about the dangers of burning plastic and other waste, before learning about the alleged use of Panadol in cooking.
Earlier during her inspection, Dr Atwine had directed workers at Bio Cure Medical Center in Kyaliwajjala to clean their compound after finding it littered with discarded polythene bags. She also encountered a medical officer she knew and asked him to sweep a nearby compound as part of the day’s cleaning exercise.
Dr Atwine said the activities exposed broader challenges surrounding sanitation and public awareness in communities.
She observed that many residents had remained in their homes despite the national cleaning exercise, saying there was a need to intensify mobilisation and education about the purpose of the initiative.
“What we noted here is that really we need to mobilize people. People have not really understood the purpose of us cleaning and having a national day because we found so many people in their homes, others are just locking themselves in the house,” she said.
The Permanent Secretary encouraged Ugandans to participate in community cleaning activities held every last Saturday of the month.
She also expressed concern about the widespread practice of burning rubbish, particularly plastics, saying residents need to understand both the legal and health implications.
“We found so many areas where they are burning rubbish and they are burning plastics together with other rubbish. They don’t know, first of all, that it is against the law to burn and secondly they don’t know the danger of burning plastics,” Dr Atwine said.
She said the Ministry of Health would intensify public education on waste management and the dangers associated with burning waste.
Dr Atwine also warned against the use of other chemicals or substances locally referred to as “kavela” in food preparation.
“The foods they are eating in these restaurants, they are using kavela to cook, all these chemicals are going in the food,” she said.
She appealed to the public to stop using medicines and chemicals to accelerate the cooking of food.
“We are really, really calling upon you, the people of Uganda that please do not burn, do not use kavela to cook, do not use Panadol in your food,” she said.
The National Cleaning Day activities are intended to promote community participation in maintaining clean environments, proper waste disposal and improved sanitation across Uganda. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
